Stock indices of Asia-Pacific countries are changing differently on Wednesday morning because the dynamics of Wall Street the day before was also mixed and did not give direction to the Asian market.
At that trading activity remains below usual level as Chinese and Hong Kong stock exchanges are closed in connection with the celebration of the New Year according to the lunar calendar, MarketWatch notes.
Investors are assessing the statements of major companies over the past quarter and the statistical data from Australia.
As it became known on Wednesday, consumer prices in Australia rose by 8.4% year-over-year in December after climbing by 7.3% in November and well ahead of the forecast of 7.6%.
This sharp acceleration in inflation is largely due to higher real estate prices (new buildings jumped 16%) and motor fuel (10.8% after increasing by 8.4% in November), as well as recreation and cultural events (+14.4% vs. 5.8%).
Inflation was 7.8% in the fourth quarter, up from 7.3% the quarter before, a record high since 1990.
The jump in inflation raises the likelihood of another key interest rate hike by another 25 basis points by the Australian Central Bank in February, IG market analyst Yip June Rong said.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index is down 0.15%.
Australia’s banking sector is mostly up on the prospect of higher interest rates, with Commonwealth Bank shares up 0.8%, ANZ Group up 0.1% and Macquarie Group up 0.7%.
Meanwhile, leading mining companies BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are down 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively, while Rio Tinto is down 0.6%.
The value of Japanese index Nikkei 225 increased by 0.5%.
Shares of Suzuki Motor Corp. (5.7%), Nippon Steel (4.5%) and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (3.3%) act as growth leaders among index components.
Nidec Corp.’s capitalization fell 5.7% after the electric motor maker sharply cut its full-year operating profit forecast due to shrinking demand and a slow recovery in the global auto industry.
South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 1.3%.
The market value of Samsung Electronics Co. one of the world’s biggest chip makers rose 2.6 percent and automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.7 percent.
